The Batman: 9 Things That Are Impossible If Ben Affleck Returns

6. Year One

Hollywood has tried to make Year One a couple of times - including an ill-fated Joel Schumacher attempt before he was kicked out of the Batman lot - and there's a really good reason for that. It's the same reason fans eat up origin stories, and why studios keep making them: we want to see superheroes who are super, but who have vulnerabilities and humanity.

The best way to do that is to show them in their early days, still coming to grips with both powers and responsibilities, and facing new rising threats that are unprecedented. Everything can then come as a shock to the character as well as the audience and you get that magical opportunity to see them grow as heroes and people. That's the exchange Geoff Johns wants, he wants hero evolution, and he should be looking at returning to Batman's early years.

Year One would have been perfect.

Unfortunately, Batman has been a hero for such a long time now that he's grizzled and has outlived other heroes ("how many good men are left?"). He's locked up his enemies and has effectively ruled Gotham for almost 20 years with his iron fist justice. He's not vulnerable in any way, apart from to villains the size of Superman or Doomsday, and the rule of escalation means there's literally no way to get a story anything like Year One now.